Agreed - people certainly aren't getting any smarter as far as web technologies go. Particuarly as the web is now viewed as a common commodity that virtually everyone has access to. In the old days, it was more or less used exclusively by tech savvy users; it was very far from the plug and play service it is now.
Unless an automated system is switching off javascript for the end user, from my experience the vast user base of the common population isn't going to actively go into settings and make a conscious effort to switch it off. The vast majority don't even know what it is. I, for one, will carry on designing sites on the basis that the chances of someone using a javascript disabled browser stumbling across me is minimal. -----Original Message----- From: li...@webstandardsgroup.org [mailto:li...@webstandardsgroup.org] On Behalf Of David Dixon Sent: 26 January 2009 22:50 To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] Users who deliberately disable JavaScript Again, can you show that the small decline in IE's market share has contributed to users blocking Javascript or using specific Firefox extensions? IE has had plugins such as the Web Accessibility Toolbar etc for some years now that allow disabling of Javascript very easily, so why would the usage of another browser and additional extensions change this? People do change their viewing habits all the time, and migrations between browsers will continue (whether to IE detriment or not), it doesn't mean people are getting smarter or that they are concerned at all about Javascript (im sure the security concerns over IE6/7 that have talked about over in the mainstream news networks over the past couple of years have had nothing to do with Javascript, and are far more related to Microsoft's proprietary ActiveX functionality). If memory serve's, the "people are getting smarter" observation has been stated on this mailing list since its inception, and we've yet to see any evidence of this. David David Lane wrote: > Agreed - the level of savvy of most user is absurdly low, and at > present few will know what Javascript is, much less how to disable it. > The question is whether people today design for today's users, or > tomorrow's... > > The trend will continue towards more sophisticated users, using better > browsers (i.e. not IE) which support useful plugins like NoScript and > their analogues for Opera, Webkit, etc. > > I suspect as more and more people get burned by identity theft and > other forms of exploitation, the pain individuals experience will > provide a strong motivation for learning. Also, organisations will > increasingly make that decision on behalf of their users to minimise > their own risk... > > Cheers, > > Dave > ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org *******************************************************************
